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Sports Minister agrees to meet on velodrome

Sports Minister agrees to meet on velodrome
The NSW Minister for Sport has agreed to meet with the Mayor of the City of Canterbury Bankstown, to discuss the future of a piece of history from the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
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29/08/2018

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29/08/2018

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The NSW Minister for Sport has agreed to meet with the Mayor of the City of Canterbury Bankstown, to discuss the future of a piece of history from the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

The 11,000 square metre Dunc Gray Velodrome, at Bass Hill, comes under Council control in 2019, once the current lease ends with Bankstown Sports Club. The velodrome caters primarily for elite cycling programs conducted by Cycling NSW and is losing $420,000 a year.

Mayor Khal Asfour said Council has been involved in lengthy discussions with Government departments for a number of years, over the future of the facility.

"We have been trying to get the Government to meet its responsibilities when it comes to maintaining state sporting infrastructure, such as the velodrome," he said.

"It was a great venue for the Olympics but it has not been financially viable ever since and is underutilised."

Council has recently been informed by the NSW Office of Sport, that it has engaged a consultant to prepare a design report and business plan, to take on the management and upgrading of the velodrome.

"This is great news but we’re not quite there yet," Mayor Asfour said.

"This is finally a step in the right direction but the Government is still yet to commit to the annual funding required to keep and maintain the velodrome.

"No council has the financial capacity to run a significant piece of State sporting infrastructure like this so, if the Government can’t commit to it, we will have to review our position.

"But, I am hopeful the Government will see commonsense, particularly now Minister Ayres has agreed to meet with me on the issue."

In 2016, Council commissioned a study into The Crest sporting precinct, which incorporates the velodrome, in order to investigate its ability to operate the velodrome. While last year, Council looked at what alternate options there were for the velodrome site, including:

Continuing with maintenance only, requiring an annual operational cost of $402,000 and maintenance of $1.08 million each year for the next four years;

Exploring the option of adaptive re-use, which would cost up to $6.86 million, in addition to the above yearly maintenance bill; and

Up to $9.4 million for the demolition and construction of a new sports field with tiered seating.